[dataway]

I recently read an article about supply chain issues and they specifically pointed out red paint as a problem. Evidently the single source for most red pigments in the world is have severe logistics problems.

As usual your project is looking great, it's definitely not going to leak that's for sure.

I see you have seam sealer in the trunk strip channel ... good idea, I'm going to steal that along with all the other good info I've stolen from you

[1969 Ram Air]

Good job with the restoration. Top notch colors. My 69 Judge has the same color combination.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by 1969 Ram Air

Good job with the restoration. Top notch colors. My 69 Judge has the same color combination.

Thanks! But oops, I think you might have missed the fact that I'm going to change the color on my car to Matador Red. I'm going to stay with the Parchment interior. Liberty Blue is a great color but I had my reasons for making the change.

[roger1]

Yesterday, I sprayed the top of the cowl, dash top and w/s frame with black epoxy primer.





This morning I sanded the primer on the dash top with 400 grit and then sprayed 2 coats of the Summit brand single-stage urethane matte black paint.
I am very pleased with how it turned out.







I had previously painted the VIN tag with a spray can of flat black and had it taped off for priming and painting the dash. I didn't want that many coats of primer and paint on the VIN number as the thickness would cause the numbers to lose their distinctness.



Good news and not so good news:
I called SPI today and they said they got their resins delivered and are planning on mixing batches of both the red base and clear coat I have on order. They will call me tomorrow to confirm when they will be shipping to me. The not so good news is that the paint booth filters I had on order hadn't even been shipped yet. (They had let me know by email but it went into my spam folder.) Supply chain problems with that too. They couldn't guarantee when they would ship so I cancelled that order and called some other suppliers. I found one that said they could have them to me in 2 weeks so I ordered them. I am anxious to start painting red paint but I still have things I can do while I'm waiting.

I think I will drop by my local auto glass supplier tomorrow and order a new windshield. It will be interesting to see if there are any supply chain issues with that.

[dataway]

Wow, that matt black turned out nice.

[Shiny]

Very fun to follow your thread, thanks for sharing all your impressive work.

Look like jewelry!

That uniform matte black is definitely photogenic.

[Scarebird]

I just noticed your rear door jambs have the cutout for the vent - my 71 ragtop does not. wonder why?

[roger1]

Thanks guys! Yes, that Summit matte black did impress me with the way it looked after it dried. I hope it holds up well.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-up355q
I mixed it at 4:1:1 and I used a fast reducer. That is reduced more than they say in the instructions. They say no more than 10% and 4:1:1 is 20%.

Scarebird, I do know that the vents in the door jambs were added for the GM Astro Ventilation system that they hyped during that era but I don't know why they didn't put them in your '71.

[Scarebird]

They don't do much as the air can flow around in the side top well.

[gtohurstjudge]

I can see by what you've done on your panel fitting that you a stickler
concerning body gaps. That being the case, you are not going to be the least bit happy about how the Ames repro rear bumper fits to the quarters and the tail lights. You need to source a nice rear original bumper core and have it redone.
by the way, your fit of the front bumper to the front fenders and hood is absolutely amazing.....ten times better than the factory fit.

[wagzilla]

Looking sharp. What are you going to do as far as tail lights?

[gtohurstjudge]

It was a few years ago when I bought the new Ames "Premium bumper" and at
that time they were claiming that the fit was "Excellent".

[roger1]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

It was a few years ago when I bought the new Ames "Premium bumper" and at
that time they were claiming that the fit was "Excellent".

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they either solved the quality control problems or sourced another vendor since you bought yours. It will be about a month or so before I'm ready to do a trial fit.

I did go out to my steel pile and inspected what I think was the original bumper on my car. It does have a number stamped into it in the license plate recessed area.
However, it does have 3 or 4 bends in it and a couple of dings too. If it is restorable, it would need a chrome shop with the correct form to be able to straighten it against.

[wagzilla]

Looking sharp. What are you going to do as far as tail lights? Did you look at Digi-tails

[gtohurstjudge]

One other thing.......I see in your pictures that you are planning to butt the front bumper up against
the front of the fenders with no air gap. In 49 years of owning a 69 GTO convertible I have found that
if you don't leave an air gap between the bumper and the fenders on a 69 convertible, the natural twisting
and flexing of the convertible body when driving the car will cause the bumper paint to crack at the top
outside corners. Ask me how I know this!

[roger1]

Thanks!
A couple of things about the tight fit.
I don't have the bumper tightly against it but it is close. I can get waxed paper to slip in between.
Another thing is that the primer and paint products I'm using are all flexible. SPI epoxy primer remains flexible after full cure and so does their polyurethane Universal Clear. I'm also using their base coat and I will activate it.

[roger1]

I hadn't heard that about the premium bumper that I bought from Ames. Dang.
I'll try it first and see if anything has changed. I will say that the chrome looks very nice.

[dataway]

Are the repops bowed out at the ends? Lots of OEM pieces out there with a similar problem, not horrible, but you have to really get it tight in the center to get the ends acceptably close to the quarters. My rechromed original is forward as far as I can get it on all the stops just to make it look passable. I may end up modifying the mounts bit to get it closer at some point.

[n20ta2]

I would try to leave a little more then the wax paper thickness, on my last 69 I left about that much and although it didn't chip it rubbed the paint off the fender and I could see primer in spots. That was on a hardtop as well. I left a little bit more this time to fight that.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by n20ta2

I would try to leave a little more then the wax paper thickness, on my last 69 I left about that much and although it didn't chip it rubbed the paint off the fender and I could see primer in spots. That was on a hardtop as well. I left a little bit more this time to fight that.

I should be able to leave a little more when I reassemble it. I do have the edges beveled just a bit so if it did rub any paint thin, it would seem like it would only be down into the seam.